I love me some noodle soup and this is one of the best books out there to get your noodle soup inspiration! All I can say is yum! I have bookmarked a bunch of recipes I want to try this winter!

One of my favourite foods is noodles so I was very excited to get my hands on this book. It is clear that the author Ken Albala is a connoisseur of noodles and is passionate about their culinary history. This book is as much a cookbook as it is a reference book on all things noodles. That said, I found its comprehensive nature a little overwhelming. Noodle Soup is comprehensive and encyclopedic. It is thorough and detailed. It is well researched and well written. However, for me, personally, I would prefer a collection of delicious recipes to make quickly for a satisfying and comforting meal or snack of Noodles.

I got so many "Tampopo" vibes while reading this book I had to go to the kitchen to cook noodle soup. ;-)
This book has a lot of background material and recipes for all tastes, from people like me who like to stick more to the world classics to the ones who like to experiment in the kitchen and innovate their recipes.

Note: I received a digital advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This cookbook was completely unlike anything I was expecting. Instead of a gorgeously styled coffee table collection of noodle soup food porn with accompanying recipes, I got an extremely thorough encyclopedia of noodle soup. I can confidently say after reading this cookbook that there is no one else on this planet who knows as much about noodle soup as Albala. He approaches the topic from every angle. Equal parts historian, connoisseur, and mad scientist, he provides you with everything you've ever wanted to know about noodles or soup or the people who enjoy them.

He starts off with a story about how he fell in love with noodle soup, starting from his days eating instant ramen in his room alone. From there, he takes off on a journey through the "epistemology of noodle soup" and a history of the topic, which is fitting considering Mr. Albala's day job as history professor. I have to admit I couldn't get through all of it, as I soon discovered that my interest in the subject paled in comparison to Albala's. Next he breaks down all the utensils needed to achieve his level of noodle soup prowess, before diving into all the many components of noodle soup, from the broth to the noodles to the garnishes. Then the fun part--he includes a noodle soup dish from each country, which I had a lot of fun reading about. It's always interesting to see how each culture has taken one humble dish and adapted it until there are hundreds of variations. I thought I had tasted a lot of different noodle soups, being Asian, but it turns out there are many more that I have yet to try.

The wacky part, and my favorite part, is the unusual noodle soup concoctions that I believe only Albala has been (brilliant? crazy? somewhere in between?) daring enough to bring to fruition. At various points in the book, he makes noodles out of pine sap, crickets, acorns, peanuts, and ham, among other things. All of these are dehydrated and ground into a powder that can then be used to make noodles. Perhaps the most impressive dish he described was a salad he made into noodles, with an array of vegetables each dehydrated, ground up, and reconstituted into pasta one at a time and later combined into a tangled noodle rainbow. There's no other words for it--this blew my mind.

As much as his recipes are exciting and eccentric, they are also very different from the usual cookbook recipes. Instead of precise measurements and a list of instructions, his recipes are more freeform. The ingredients and their measurements are there, but the instructions are written in confusing paragraphs with too much detail at times. It's hard to distinguish where recipes end and where his general writing begins again. His thoughts on the philosophy of noodle-making tend to go on for too long, which coming from academia as well, I understand. However, his editor might have been more conservative with the word limits, as the amount of text can be overwhelming at times and would have benefited from a tighter emphasis on brevity.

The writing itself is thoughtful, intelligent, and often made me laugh out loud with its dry humor, particularly during his anecdote about making cricket noodles. The photography is not on the level of other cookbooks out on the market today, but that is also because a lot of his recipes are experiments he seems to have made in the past and documented once, instead of dishes that were made and styled by food stylists. In fact, much of this book seems to be a documentation of the inner workings of a craftsman who is obsessed with honing and expanding his craft. "Obsession" seems to be fitting for a man who watches his son eat Kraft mac and cheese and can only think of ways to capture the essence of it in noodle soup form.

Lest you think I am disparaging Mr. Albala, I'm not. After putting this book down, I had nothing but admiration for him. I can't recall ever seeing this level of dedication to exploring one type of dish and challenging the way that the food world has traditionally seen it. It's not just comfort food--it's a blank canvas on which you can throw any idea and watch it transform into something new and special entirely.

Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of cookbook I would see myself buying for myself. As I mentioned earlier, I discovered about 30 pages in that I just didn't care as much about noodle soup as Mr. Albala does. He makes a passionate case, but in the end, I found the recipes hard to transform into practical meals in my home kitchen without having to go out and buy a lot of equipment I don't have. If I encounter someone with the same level of zeal for noodle-making, I'll be sure to gift them this extraordinary cookbook, and also send them along to Mr. Albala who I imagine would be their culinary Mr. Miyagi. In the meantime, this is going back on the shelf.

Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

First of all, this is not a generic "Noodle recipes" book. This book is for real fans of noodles; the ones that eat them with pleasure, dare to try new variations and dream about making their own noodles at home. If your mouth is already watering while thinking "mmm...noodles", wait until you hear what's on this book.

We need to define what is considered noodle soup and what isn't. Not so long ago I read a post debating about why a bowl of cereal cant be considered soup, so knowing the rules of the game make it easier to break them later on, and this book will keep enticing you to break and bend the rules of what we think of as "noodle soup". The first chapters of this book take care of that; what is considered a noodle, different ingredients and varieties, historical and cultural background, old techniques of noodle soup making from different countries and different centuries, right bowls and other utensils for a good eating experience and kitchen tools for making noodles. Everything explained in great detail and very relevant if we are to experiment with new recipes or ways of eating noodle soups.

Noodles + broths + garnishes + classics:

With that amount of detail on just the historical background, you would be right to expect a lot more in-depth information to come ahead, and there is. A lot of recipes for making all kinds of stocks, gathered from around the world, meat or vegetable stocks. Followed by even more recipes for making all kinds of noodles in all shapes, sizes, textures and even ingredients that I never knew existed. Grain or starch noodles, fermented, smoked, chilled, pulled, alkaline, batter, multicolored, all the way to more exotic versions like flamin' hot cheetos noodle soup or acorn noodles. The garnishes section is not as lengthy but covers well beyond what you need to know in order to make the right choices between all the possible combinations and types of ingredients suitable for your specific noodle soup.

However, if you are not feeling adventurous yet, or simply want a taste of noodles from other countries, there is a section full of classic dishes from places around the world; Japan's Hakata ramen, Indonesia's Cendol, Slovakia's pulled noodles, Korea's Dongchimi-guksu, Switzerland's Chard noodle soup, New Orlean's Yaka-mein among many others from all around the globe.

I bet you weren't expecting this!:

The last two sections of the book is where creativity explodes like multicolored fireworks. First, we have original recipes created by Ken Albala. Some soups sound delicious (and clever) like his onion noodle soup, which is like a traditional onion soup with a noodle twist. Others I wont be trying any time soon, like his French fry noodle soup, just because I don't like the taste of French fries. From here on, the book is full of ideas to inspire you and guide you to explore and stretch the boundaries of Noodleland. Candy noodles, calligraphy on noodles, microwaved noodles, marbleized noodles... all kinds of crazy ideas for you to experiment with. Each comes with commentary and instructions without specific measurements, even less than in the rest of the book. I feel like his idea of Noodle soup cocktails will be a hit in the future; it looks good, sounds good and has alcohol, so, I'm pretty sure it tastes good as well.

If you are planing to give this book as a gift to someone who enjoys ramen, pho or other popular noodle soup, keep it mind that it might not suit those who only want to try basic recipes and would rather have a well detailed list of ingredients followed by step by step instructions, lots of pictures and kitchen tips, in other words, another average cookbook. This book is more of an exploration on the endless possibilities of cooking with noodles and turning them into a soup, an invitation to experiment with ingredients. A reference book with some recipes along the way and explanations on techniques for you to try and tweak to your own preferences. While you can certainly follow along the instructions, most of them require some trial and error and decide on measurements on your own, so for the inexperienced cook this can be very daunting. On the other hand, people like me who don't seem to be able to stick to recipes and love experimenting in the kitchen, will find this book just right up their alley. Even more so if they love soups and noodles! but who doesn't? so I will assume that is a given. I got my eArc via NetGalley

Noodle Soup is literally filled with everything you can imagine related to broths, noodle-based soups, and more. Starting with the history of noodles, it also has an in depth discussion of different stocks/broths. The tools you need to prepare different soups are described in detail as well. Next, different types of noodles are reviewed, and I definitely found some new varieties here. How fun were the unusual ingredients! Reconstructions of soups were explored thoroughly, and lastly, Inventions of new soup ideas were presented. As a soup lover, this book is going to be a great resource for fresh ideas. Homemade spaetzle will be one of the first recipes I try! Yum!

Thank you to Ken Albala, University of Illinois Press, and Netgalley, for the opportunity to read and review this exceptional cookbook.

I was expecting a bog-standard cookbook, what I got was a love letter to noodles from around the world! I greatly enjoyed the history and variety of recipes. I was not the biggest fan of the actual recipes though, it reminded me a lot of asking my mom how to cook something she has made so many times that she can just give a rough description and I am left figuring it out. When I am reading a cookbook I want very detailed instructions, otherwise I will just go to the kitchen and wing it on my own. While the conversational tone was enjoyable to read in the rest of the book, I found myself wishing for more details.

I did really enjoy the sections on noodles, broths, and garnishes. I was happy reading all of it and honestly would not mind adding the book to my collection just based on that.

When I saw the title Noodle Soup, I snapped up this cook book in a hot second. I love to cook and my family loves noodles. What also caught my attention was the mention of crickets in the table of contents. My son is doing a marketing presentation on crickets as a sustainable food source and this caught my eye.

It’s my belief that a good stock is the secret to a great soup. The section on stocks is detailed and described in an easy and accessible way. You don’t have 3 stalks of celery? Don’t worry about it, use what you have. There are a few easy techniques that I wasn’t familiar with and will add when cooking stocks from now on.

Fresh vs dried. It’s all covered and to make your own is explained in easy detailed instructions. I especially liked the Global Classics section. Featured are many different countries and how they incorporate noodles. Mr. Albala is passionate about noodles and it shows in his experimentation with alcohol infused noodles, script, colors, and many other interesting ideas.

As much as I like to cook, I like table ware. There is a section on utensils. Did you know different countries use a unique style of chopsticks? Very interesting. Bowls make a difference too. Etiquette is also covered on how to use those chopsticks with a spoon. Tips on making me feel less awkward in a Korean restaurant is a bonus.

I will use this cook book as a reference and an addition to my collection.

Thank you Ken Albala, Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

With colder temperatures, fall produce, and the need for delicious food for daily and holiday eating, I delved into 'Noodle Soup'. This is a wide ranging book, with recipes, techniques and commentary. I tested several of the recipes and found them to be a wonderful addition to my range of home-cooked foods. I really learned so much about noodles, ramen, flavor, techniques and how to make the best darned noodle soup there is. This book gave me confidence that I could not just make soup or noodles, but that I could make the best soup and noodles that my family had ever tasted. 5 Yums from me!

I am a one of those people who (and I quote from the final words in this book) “like to cook, enjoy sharing food” and “care seriously what they eat in terms of health, environment, and gastronomic pleasure” But precisely because I care seriously about food, I find I am ambivalent about this book. I would recommend it without hesitation as an interesting and superbly researched book on noodle soup, but would not recommend it as a source of useful recipes.

The first section was a great read. I really enjoyed the easy writing style which made the history of the evolution of noodles and noodle soup so accessible. I felt as if I was sitting in a room with a superb teacher – being entertained and educated at the same time. Information on bowls and utensils, etiquette (to slurp or not to slurp?) and the history of noodle ingredients and cooking methods was fascinating. The section on tools for rolling, cutting and stamping noodles covered an interesting range of equipment used in various countries and the author’s recommendation for home use.

The chapter on stock was excellent, with recipes for a wide range of authentic stocks and including interesting historical information. Then a chapter on making the noodles, including the use of a variety of grains, followed by a section on garnishes, viz. the vegetables and proteins that can be added to a noodle soup

But once I moved onto recipes that included brightly coloured noodles made from dehydrated vegetables to create a noodle that looks like “ a Dr Who scarf” and potato chip noodles or a Cheetos noodle soup, I started to lose interest. I would have much preferred more on traditional recipes from around the world, than the reconstructions that included French fry noodle soup and breakfast buttered-toast noodle soup. I understand that the aim is to try to make the reader experiment with different ingredients and combinations but as a serious cook, I cannot see myself serving my family or friends any of the reconstructions or the inventions using garishly coloured noodles in weird patterns.

The book has delicious recipes that are easy to prepare. However, this book is not an ordinary cook book. This book contains history and cultural background explained and applied to the recipes which is amazing!

Like ingredients thrown in a pot to boil a tasty broth, this was a tasty mashup of history, journal, and recipes. As a ramen fanatic, I loved reading the background of humans' relationship with noodles over the ages. I also enjoyed the recipes across the world, though the formatting felt more conversational than usefully instructive. One thing's for sure: this book made me hungry!

Noodle Soup is my go-to comfort food. Udon is my favorite. I was very excited to see this cookbook.

For a cookbook, there is a lot of time spent on exploring the worldwide history of noodles. Recipes are from North Dakota , Tibet, Peru, Morocco, Italy, Singapore, basically everywhere. Techniques are exhaustively explained. Photographs are provided. This is a Noodle Soup Textbook. Only, replete with humor.

I liked the photos and explanation of adding dehydrated vegetables to noodle dough. I loved the advice about cricket flour noodles. I loved that there is a recipe for Uyghur Laghman. This is definitely not a vegetarian cookbook, but there are some meatless recipes.

This is a very funny, encyclopedic, practical, well written book. I loved it! Would make a great gift for food historians, cooks, and foodies.

Sorry cannot review as unable to download in current format. Thankyou for approval though. I will look out for title when published